Delaware officials are celebrating the completion of a major trail system along the Chesapeake & Delaware Canal.
A trio of trails built in stages since 2012 connect to create a 14.3-mile continuous stretch from Delaware City to Chesapeake City, Maryland.
State officials say more than 100,000 residents have already used them and now that they are fully complete, Chesapeake City mayor Dean Geracimos said he expects they’ll drive visitors to his town.
“It’s going to absolutely take our town to another level,” Geracimos said. “We have a nice quiet town and we’re gonna keep it that way but we love having tourists and we’re excited about all the opportunities the trail is gonna bring us.”
Dick Cathcart, the city manager for Delaware City, has similar hopes.
“We’ve always looked at this project as an economic development project,” Cathcart said. “Just the little bit of time it’s been opened has generated traffic into Delaware City.”
The 12.1 mile Castle Trail is the backbone of the project - with the shorter Ben Cardin trail in Maryland and Branch canal trail in Delaware connecting it the Chesapeake City and Delaware City.
It’s a major piece of departing Gov. Jack Markell’s First State Trails and Pathways Initiativethat has expanded and improved Delaware’s 571 mile network of trails.
“Building the trails linking two historic cities was a tremendous collaboration among state, federal and city partners,” Markell said. “With the trails now completed, more residents and visitors will be drawn to the wonderful amenities that Delaware City and Chesapeake City have to offer, expanding tourism and boosting the local economies.”
And officials hope the stretch of trails encourages more Delawareans to get out and walk, bike, run, and enjoy nature. Markell said as a cyclist, he enjoys riding along the Michael Castle Trail because of its “natural, scenic beauty along the C&D Canal.”